Reports are that selecting a new House speaker next week won’t go smoothly despite two solid conservative candidates in Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Steve Scalise (R-LA). The mood of House Republicans is one of anger and frustration, as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) created a potential disaster for the party. Gaetz filed the motion to vacate, which removed McCarthy, voting with Democrats to remove the now-speaker. McCarthy opted not to run for his former post to quell any further disruption.
that's a sure way to calm the nerves of the mods! https://t.co/PR3LrHcwrI
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 5, 2023
To complicate matters, Donald Trump, whose name has been floated around as a potential speaker candidate, will reportedly visit Congress next week. He also said that he would be fine serving as speaker, if elected, for a little bit. Will this lead to constructive chaos or absolute bedlam, which puts the House Republican majority at risk next year? Ann Coulter has been one of the prominent conservative voices not on board with Gaetz’s plot, saying that a move puts vulnerable Republicans at risk in 2024.
Please stop doing this @mattgaetz. You make great points, but your fellow Republicans aren't all in safe seats like yours. YOUR NO. 1 JOB: WIN MAJORITIES IN THE HOUSE & SENATE. Then get a better speaker.https://t.co/7veRLo3ruG
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 3, 2023
With McCarthy’s ouster, she threw more cold water on the Florida Republican’s victory lap, noting that she would have taken his remarks about out-of-control spending and the debt more seriously if Gaetz didn’t go on Steve Bannon’s podcast to tout his agent of chaos status:
This would be more believable if you didn't immediately go on Steve Bannon's podcast to accept congratulations for creating "chaos." https://t.co/mQHEuppnxK
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 5, 2023
The irony is Gaetz’s reasoning for going ‘Leroy Jenkins’ in the House isn’t lost on most of us. The spending is outrageous, with deficit payments soaring into the trillions soon. Meanwhile, foreign holders of that debt, notably the Chinese and Japanese, are also seeing economic declines. They could call in those markers. The problem is that even if Gaetz gets a speaker he likes, which most of the GOP base would also find acceptable—it’s a no-gain victory. We still have a Democratic Senate that will never sign off on any GOP measure on the economy unless we retake the upper chamber.
McCarthy should reflect on why he’s without the gavel, too—years of reported backstabbing and being overall unreliable killed him with most of his members. The votes to keep him showed that Republicans didn’t want to set a nuke off on the House floor, not necessarily because they liked the guy; his trust balance was negative.
Everyone shares some blame here, and Democrats can sit back and chuckle as we set up a situation where we cannibalize ourselves.